My View: Funds available in Rockford to help get women off the streets

By Michael Kleen

Saturday

Feb 27, 2016 at 2:53 PMFeb 27, 2016 at 2:53 PM

Prostitution has long been an issue in Rockford. Though local law enforcement continues to conduct stings and arrests, prostitutes are still a common sight in some neighborhoods. Many more ply their trade online. Today, thousands of dollars in grant money is available to organizations to help get these women off the streets.

Since 2015, Rockford has tried a new strategy to combat prostitution and human trafficking in the city. Its advocates call it the “End Demand Strategy,” focusing on targeting demand for sexual services. While too early to evaluate its success or failure, organizations such as Rockford Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, in cooperation with local law enforcement, have made small steps toward implementing this strategy.

Rockford took a step toward "Ending Demand” in 2015 by enacting an ordinance levying a new penalty for drivers caught soliciting a prostitute and committing other sex-trade related crimes. Individuals picked up for solicitation while operating a motor vehicle now have their car impounded, which costs $1,000 to recover.

In January 2015, Rockford aldermen unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s vehicle impound ordinance authorizing the city to deposit impound fees into a fund earmarked for rehabilitation, outreach and education services, GED attainment, and job training for former prostitutes and victims of human trafficking.

The city issued its first grant in the amount of $2,464 for the period of July 2015 through July 2016 to RAASE. RAASE was the only organization to apply for funding. According to Rockford Strategic Communications Manager Kimberly Bruce, no new applications have been received.

Organizations applying for grant money must submit receipts for qualifying expenses in order to receive funding. To date, RAASE has spent its grant money on establishing a crisis hotline, support groups, a five-week class in the Winnebago County Jail and transporting a sex trafficking victim to a safe house in Kentucky.

RAASE’s community support groups were attended by a total of five to six women from September to November 2015. RAASE also referred 8 women to social service agencies in a three-month period.

In December 2015, RAASE delivered a 24-year-old sex trafficking victim to the Refuge Home for Women, a long-term treatment facility near Lexington, Kentucky.

While RAASE’s efforts have helped some women, the handful of women attending their support groups pales in comparison to the number engaged in prostitution in Rockford. Finding treatment will have a huge impact on one woman’s life, but for every person RAASE transports to a safe house, many more are being lured into the sex trade.

More community organizations, including churches, need to step up if this program is to be successful. The world’s oldest profession is not going away, but funding is available to help provide treatment, education and shelter to former prostitutes. The Rockford Human Services Department should do more to advertise its Human Trafficking Grant Program, and work with a variety of organizations to get that funding where it is needed.

Michael Kleen is a writer and Rockford resident currently serving in the United States Army in Iraq.

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